tipitakafandomcom-20200215-history
Thera 16.2: Udayin
Tipitaka >> Sutta Pitaka >> Khuddaka Nikaya >> Theragatha >> Thera(247):Udayin Adapted from the Archaic Translation by Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids. Note: 'C' in Pali text is pronounced as 'ch' as in 'China'. ---- Chapter XV. Sixteen Verses =247. Udāyin= Reborn in this Buddha-age at Kapilavatthu in a brahmin(priest) family, he saw the power and majesty of the Buddha when 288 he visited his family, believed in him, entered the Monk’s order, and in due course became an arahant(enlightened). Now there are these three Theras named Udāyin: the minister's son, Kaludayin, recorded above,1 this brahmin(priest), and Udāyin the Great.2 This one, when the Sutta of the Elephant Parable had been taught on the occasion when Seta, King Pasenadi's(Prasenajit) elephant, was publicly admired,3 was stirred to enthusiasm at thought of the Buddha, and thinking: 'These people admire a mere animal. Come now, I will proclaim the virtues of that great and wondrous Elephant, the Buddha!' he uttered these verses: ---- 689 Manussabhūtaɱ sambuddhaɱ attadantaɱ samāhitaɱ,|| Iriyamānaɱ3 brahmapathe cittassūpasame rataɱ.|| || 690 Yaɱ manussā namassanti sabbadhammāna pāraguɱ,|| Devā'pi taɱ namassanti iti me arahato sutaɱ.|| || 691 Sabbasaɱyejanātītaɱ vanā nibbanamāgataɱ,|| Kāmehi nekkhammarataɱ muttaɱ selā'va6 kañcanaɱ.|| || 692 Sa ve accantaruci nāgo himavā maññe siluccaye,|| Sabbesaɱ nāganāmānaɱ saccanāmo anuttaro.|| || 693 Nāgaɱ vo kittayissāmi na hi āguɱ karoti so,|| Soraccaɱ avihiɱsā ca pādā nāgassa te duve.|| || 694 Sati ca sampajaññaɱ ca caraṇā nāgassa te pare,|| Saddhā hattho mahānāgo upekkhāsetadantavā.|| || 695 Sati ca sampajaññaɱ caraṇā nāgassa te pare,|| Dhammakucchisamāvāso viveko tassa vāladhi.|| || 696 So jhāyī assāsarato ajjhattaɱ susamāhito,|| Gacchaɱ samāhito nāgo ṭhito nāgo samāhito.|| || 697 Sayaɱ samāhito nāgo nisinno'pi samāhito,|| Sabbattha saɱvuto nāgo esā nāgassa sampadā.|| || 698 Bhuñjati anavajjāni sāvajjāni na bhuñjati,|| Ghāsamacchādanaɱ laddhā sanni'dhiɱ parivajjayaɱ.|| || 699 Saɱyojanaɱ aṇuɱ thūlaɱ sabbaɱ chetvāna bandhanaɱ,|| Yena yeneva gacchati anapekkhova gacchati.|| || 700 Yathāpi udake jātaɱ puṇḍarīkaɱ pavaḍḍhati,|| Nopalippati toyena sucigandhaɱ manoramaɱ.|| || 701 Tatheva ca loke jāto buddho loke viharati,|| Nopalippati lokena toyena padumaɱ yathā.|| || 702 Mahāgini pajjalito anāhāropasammati,|| Aŋgāresu ca santesu nibbuto' ti pavuccati.|| || 703 Atthassāyaɱ viññāpanī upamā viññūhi desitā,|| Viññissanti mahānāgā nāgaɱ nāgena desitaɱ.|| || 704 Vītarāgo vītadoso vītamoho anāsavo,|| Sarīraɱ vijahaɱ nāgo parinibbissantyanāsavo' ti.|| || ---- 689 Buddha the Awakened One, the son of man, Self-tamed, by inward vision rapt, Engrossed within himself by ways sublime, Glad in tranquillity of heart; 690 To whom men honour pay as one Who has transcended all we know;4 To whom gods also honour yield:- So I, an arahant(enlightened), have heard- 691 From jungle to Nibbāna come,5 With every bond left behind, Glad in renouncing worldly joys, Extracted like fine gold from ore, 692 Like elephant superb is he, On wooded heights in Himalay:- Lo, him see! Nāga Superb- 289 For, sure, of all we 'Nāga' name, (Serpent or elephant or man) Supremely true that name for him - 693 This Nāga will I praise to you, For he 'no sin' ''-na āgun-'' did.6 Mercifulness, soberness:7 These be two of the Naga's feet; 694 Intelligence and mindfulness: Other two feet of this Elephant. The Nāga's trunk is confidence; His white tusks, equanimity; 695 His throat awareness,8 and his head Is insight; testing touch of trunk Is weighing wisely good and bad; Shrine of the Path(Dhamma) his viscera; Detachment is the tail of him. 696 So meditating rapt, and breathing bliss,9 Composed in body and in mind, Composed, this Nāga, when he walks, Composed, this Nāga, when he stands, 697 Composed, this Nāga,, lying down, And hard worked composed while he sits; Self-governed whatsoever he did: This is the Nāga's perfect way. 698 Blameless in all that he enjoys, Enjoying nothing that calls for blame, Has he but gotten food and gear, From store laid up he did refrain. 290 699 Whether the tie be coarse or fine, Bonds of all kinds he breaks fast; He goes wheresoever he will, Nor cars wheresoever he goes. 700 As lotus born within a lake, By water nowise is defiled, But grows fragrant, beautiful, 701 So is the Buddha in this world, Born in the world and living there, But by the world nowise defiled, Even as the lily by the lake. 702 A mighty fire that's spent itself, And has no fuel exhausts itself down, And of the smouldering ashes men Do say 'That fire is now extinguished.'10 703 Lo! here's a parable the wise Have taught to make their meaning known. Great Nāgas, they will understand The Nāga, by that Nāga taught: 704 With passion gone, and hatred gone, And dullness gone, sane and immune, This Nāga, yielding up his life, Will clean 'go out,' sane and immune. ---- 1 See CCXXXIII. 2 It is not easy to elicit from the canonical episodes mentioning āyasmā Udāyī,' which is the last named. Such a personage frequently appears, getting into trouble in the Vinaya, conversing with the Buddha and apostles in the Suttas, but never called 'Great,' or doing anything to merit the title. Conceivably he lived nearer the Commentator's time. 3 See Ang. Nik., iii. 345 f., where the saying(gatha) is also given. Translated by E. Hardy, Buddha, 1903, p. 51. 4 Dhammā-i.e., things as cognizab)e. 5 Vanā nib-banam āgataṃ; the word-play cannot be reproduced. See Compendium, p. 168. 6 Nāga, whatever its real, not (as here) exegetical, derivation, meant a fairy, daimôn, or mysterious being. The serpent was as mysterious for the Indian as for Cretan and Greek. So was the elephant. So was the saint. The bracketed line is from the Commentary. Cf. Sutta-Nipata, verse 522. 7 On soberness (soraccaṃ Commentary = sīlaṃ), see Bud. Psy., p. 849. The other two feet are, in Ang. Nik., called 'austerity' (tapo) and 'holy life(celibacy).' 8 Sati, 'mindfulness,' above, is also sati. 9 Lit., 'delighting in inhaling,' a word meaning also comfort - namely, of Nibbāna (Commentary). 10 Nibbuto. ----